On 18-4-2018 18:15, [email protected] [firebird-support] wrote: > One of the newer and nice error trapping features in T-SQL is the > implementation of the "Try-Catch" block, which I used quite a bit when > working on developing corporate databases.
That is supported in Firebird in `execute block` or in stored procedures. The major difference with T-SQL is that T-SQL supports stored procedure like usage without explicitly doing that. In Firebird you're required to use a stored procedure (or wrap it in an execute block). > Another was the use of "select" to to test out functionality. for > example, with T-SQL in a database manager I can write the following... > > select 'trailing ''la''' -> which returns trailing 'la' when run. > > You can do the same with the following Firebird-SQL statement... > > select 'trailing ''la''' from RDB$DATABASE A debatable difference: this is similar to Oracle's DUAL table. Also the SQL standard requires a FROM-clause (this is an example where we are strict ;). > However, it took me a while to find this capability and I only did so by > accident. This is where a book on "Learning Firebird SQL" would of > great assistance in moving the Firebird up the popularity rankings. In > fact, such books are far more helpful than the language references since > these latter books assume that you have a working knowledge of SQL and > do little to promote the Firebird database beyond the core community. Writing a book is not easy, especially not for introductory texts. However, we always welcome contributors for documentation. You can also consider writing blog posts. > As it regards the above example, if I remember correctly, I believe > there is a similar statement construct in Oracle. > > However, the T-SQL implementation is the most elegant and the easiest to > use and learn. > > Cursors in T-SQL have also gotten very powerful and even more efficient > with the later releases of SQL Server. As a result, their complexity is > far easier to learn and use. > > As Oracle relies on cursors in a way that SQL Server does not, it is > with this database engine that the power of the cursor is its most > extensive. Firebird also has cursors (in PSQL), but I have rarely needed to use them explicitly (nor with Oracle or SQL Server). A good example of a use case that is easy in another database, but hard to do in Firebird would be really welcome. > These are just some examples off the top of my head so to speak... Thanks! -- Mark Rotteveel
